I Was the ‘Boys Have a Penis’ Kid from the Classic 1990 Film: An Interview.
The action icon is universally recognized as an action movie legend. However, during the peak of his cinematic dominance in the 1980s and 1990s, he also delivered several surprisingly great comedies. Chief among them is Kindergarten Cop, which hits its 35th anniversary this December.
The Role and That Line
In the 1990 movie, Schwarzenegger plays a tough police officer who goes undercover as a schoolteacher to locate a fugitive. Throughout the film's runtime, the procedural element functions as a simple backdrop for Arnold to film humorous moments with his young class. Without a doubt the standout involves a little boy named Joseph, who out of nowhere announces and informs the stoic star, “Males have a penis, and girls get a vagina.” Schwarzenegger replies icily, “Thank you for that information.”
The young actor was played by youth performer Miko Hughes. Beyond this role featured a notable part on Full House as the schoolyard menace to the child stars and the pivotal role of the child who returns in the screen translation of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. He continues to act today, with several projects in development. Additionally, he is a regular on fan conventions. Not long ago discussed his experiences from the filming of the classic over three decades on.
Memories from the Set
Question: Starting off, how old were you when you filmed Kindergarten Cop?
Miko Hughes: My understanding is I was four. I was the most junior of all the kids on set.
Wow, I can't remember being four. Do you have any memories from that time?
Yeah, somewhat. They're snapshots. They're like mental photographs.
Do you recall how you were cast in Kindergarten Cop?
My parents, primarily my mom would accompany me to auditions. Often it was an open call. There'd be dozens of children and we'd all simply wait around, enter the casting office, be in there for a very short time, do whatever little line they wanted and that was it. My parents would help me learn the words and then, as soon as I could read, that was probably the first stuff I was reading.
Do you have a specific memory of meeting Arnold? What was your impression of him?
He was incredibly nice. He was fun. He was pleasant, which I guess isn't too surprising. It would be strange if he was mean to all the kids in the classroom, that likely wouldn't create a good work environment. He was great to work with.
“It would be strange if he was mean to all the kids in the classroom.”
I knew he was a major movie star because that's what my parents told me, but I had never really seen his movies. I knew the air around him — it was exciting — but he wasn't scary to me. He was just fun and I only wanted to hang out with him when he had time. He was busy, obviously, but he'd sometimes engage here and there, and we would dangle from his limbs. He'd flex and we'd be hanging off. He was exceptionally kind. He bought every kid in the classroom a yellow cassette player, which at the time was a major status symbol. It was the must-have gadget, that distinctive classic yellow cassette player. I used to rock out to the Power Rangers soundtrack and the Ninja Turtles soundtrack for ages on that thing. It wore out in time. I also have a real silver whistle. He had the referee's whistle, and the kids all got a whistle as well.
Do you remember your experience as being fun?
You know, it's interesting, that movie is such a landmark. It was such a big movie, and it was a wonderful time, and you would think, as an adult, I would want my memories to be of working with Arnold, the direction of Ivan Reitman, the location shoot, seeing the set, but my memories are of being a selective diner at lunch. Like, they got everyone pizza, but I wasn't a pizza fan. All I would eat was the pepperoni off the top. Then, the first-generation Game Boy was brand new. That was the coolest toy, and I was pretty good at it. I was the youngest and some of the older kids would ask for my help to beat difficult stages on games because I could do it, and I was quite pleased with myself. So, it's all little kid memories.
The Line
OK, that specific dialogue, do you remember anything about it? Did you understand the words?
At the time, I wasn't fully aware of what the word shocking meant, but I understood it was edgy and it made adults laugh. I understood it was kind of something I shouldn't normally say, but I was given an exception in this case because it was comedic.
“She really wrestled with it.”
How it came about, based on what I was told, was they hadn't finalized all the dialogue. A few scenes were part of the original screenplay, but once they had the whole cast on the set, it wasn't pure improvisation, but they refined it on set and, presumably someone in charge came to my mom and said, "We have an idea. We want Miko to have this line. Are you okay with this?" My mom didn't answer immediately. She said, "Let me think about it, I'll decide tomorrow" and took some time. She deliberated carefully. She said she wasn't sure, but she believed it would likely become one of the unforgettable moments from the movie and history proved her correct.